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G2 Gloves

Basic, burly, and branded

BY JEFF BURKE

Forest “Gage” Reichert, founder of G2 Gloves, didn’t plan on starting a business. He just wanted his utilitarian ski/work gloves to have some personality.

Nine years ago, Forest “Gage” Reichert, a ski instructor at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) since 1992, borrowed a friend’s brander. He planted the resort’s iconic bucking bronco symbol on the backside of his leather gloves. Today, Reichert is the founder, president, brander, and quality-control supervisor of G2 Gloves (www.G2gloves.com). G2—there are two G’s in Gage, plus his son is named Griffon—sells no-frills, branded elkskin, deerskin, cowhide, and pigskin gloves in stores across the Mountain West and online around the world. JHMR’s bucking bronco was only the tip of the iceberg. Today, Reichert, a fly-fishing guide when he’s not ski instructing, fills his downtime branding not only broncos, but also skiers, fish, and custom logos onto gloves. In 2012, he branded and sold more than three thousand pairs.

“The gloves came out of the Jackson Hole Ski School locker room,” Reichert says. Reichert’s friend and fellow ski instructor, Chris Leveroni, had a small electric branding iron of the Wyoming cowboy. Reichert, like many JHMR on-mountain workers, used heavy-duty, insulated, leather Kinco work gloves bought from a valley hardware store. Looking to make his more interesting, he borrowed Leveroni’s brander.

Friends noticed and asked Reichert to make them some. He soon bought his own bucking bronco brand and a stockpile of leather gloves. He sold these early pairs out of the ski school locker room. The more pairs he made and sold to friends, the more people came to him asking for their own. It wasn’t too long before strangers were calling him to inquire about the gloves. Reichert realized he might be onto something. (He also realized the bucking bronco is the property of the University of Wyoming; Reichert now pays royalties to the school.)

G2 Gloves appeal to both locals and visitors. For out-of-towners, the allure is a connection to their Jackson Hole skiing experience. “Everyone who skis at Jackson wants something to remember their trip by,” Reichert says. One option is an overpriced, possibly tawdry, definitely unremarkable souvenir T-shirt. Another option is a pair of G2 Gloves—functional, completely unique, and wholly representative of Wyoming’s wild spirit.

Locals like G2s because ski gloves can be expensive. On-hill workers—ski schoolers, mountain guides, lift mechanics, patrollers, lifties—can be tough on them, going through several pairs during JHMR’s four-month season. G2 Gloves are affordable; depending on leather and branding options, they cost between $17 and $40. Good luck finding a pair of The North Face, Patagonia, or Arc’teryx ski gloves (not liners) for less than $100. “The price is right when you leave them on the bus, on the trail, or at the Mangy Moose Saloon,” Reichert says. G2s are also durable. And, crucial for a mountain town, they’re warm.

While it’s G2’s bucking bronco leather gloves you’ll most often see in shops around the valley and on the hands of JHMR workers, about six years ago, Reichert expanded into other branding styles, including names. “If you’ve got gloves with your name branded on them, you can hope to get them back if you lose them,” he says. Noncustom options are a skier and a fish. Exum Mountain Guides, which has been guiding in Grand Teton National Park since 1926, ordered G2 Gloves with “EXUM” branded on them. Reichert also works with a brewery in Bend, Oregon; Wyoming Whiskey; and a Missoula, Montana-based energy bar company. His plan is to brand ski-area-specific artwork onto G2 Gloves and get them into shops at most of the West’s major resorts. (They’re already in Vail, Sun Valley, and Lake Tahoe.) Find them in Jackson Hole at Hungry Jack’s, The Bridger Center, and Teton Village Sports.